Warning signs on U.S. 281 pay off

By John Tedesco :
March 7, 2013
: Updated: March 7, 2013 11:27pm

Local officials are seeing signs of success in a $500,000 effort to prevent wrong-way driving on U.S. 281 between downtown and North Loop 1604. Last spring, TxDOT installed wrong-way signs with flashing LED lights on 27 exit ramps on that stretch of highway, leading to fewer incidents.

A $500,000 experiment to stop wrong-way drivers on U.S. 281 with warning signs and flashing lights appears to be paying off — and possibly saving lives.

TxDOT announced Thursday that the rate of sightings of wrong-way drivers on that stretch of highway dropped by nearly 30 percent after the signs were installed, compared to a yearlong period before the installation.

Wrong-way incidents on 281 logged by TransGuide operators who monitor highway traffic fell from a rate of 2.6 incidents per month to 1.9.

During those same time periods, the incident rate of wrong-way driving on all San Antonio highways remained roughly the same — about 20 sightings per month.

No wrong-way drivers crashed into other vehicles on U.S. 281 after the signs were installed there.

Wrong-way drivers are a persistent and deadly problem in Bexar County. An analysis of crash data by the San Antonio Express-News last year showed nearly 30 people died in wrong-way collisions on major highways from 2007 to 2011, and Bexar County had higher rates of crashes than other major Texas counties.

Brian Fariello, traffic management engineer for TxDOT's San Antonio district who has been deeply involved in efforts to stymie wrong-way drivers, said he wasn't allowed to speak to the media about the agency's findings. But in a news release, he was quoted as describing the program on 281 as a success.

“Safety is our No. 1 priority at TxDOT,” Fariello said. “And now that we have the numbers showing that our investments in highway improvements are working to save more lives, this is something all taxpayers and drivers can celebrate.”

The wrong-way signs with flashing LED lights on 281 are hard to miss — and that's the point. They're designed to grab the attention of confused or inebriated motorists who drive into oncoming traffic on the highway.

Before the signs were installed, TransGuide logged 31 reports of wrong-way drivers on 281 during a 12-month period from March 2011 to February 2012. The signs were installed from March to June last year. After that, TransGuide logged 13 incidents in the seven months from July to January.

Local transportation and law enforcement officials began discussing ways to deal with wrong-way drivers when San Antonio police Lt. Billy Biesenbach Jr. alerted his captain in an August 4, 2010 email about a problem that “is not well known” to the public or even many police officers.

The warning was prescient. On March 15, 2011, SAPD officer Stephanie Brown was killed in a head-on collision on Interstate 35. The blood-alcohol content of wrong-way driver Christopher Baldaramos was three times the legal limit.

Brown's death sparked more cooperation between police, TxDOT and other agencies, and a wrong-way driver task force was launched in May 2011.

TxDOT plans on installing signs on other highways, and radar detectors on 281 to immediately warn authorities about a wrong-way driver.

Kimberly McGuire, whose cousin Erica Smith died in a wrong-way wreck on Loop 410 in December 2007, said the efforts on 281 were a promising sign in San Antonio, where officials had taken years to recognize the risk of wrong-way drivers.

“Whatever it takes!” McGuire wrote in a message to the Express-News on Thursday. “Victims' families are just happy that San Antonio acknowledges the problem.”